“The Emmys issued a response to Seth Rogen’s claim that he’s been ‘blacklisted’ from presenting at the awards show.”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
The actor and comedian, 43, recently speculated that he’s been banned from the event after he criticized the Emmys over what he perceived to be their lackluster COVID-19 safety regulations in 2021.
At the ceremony, held during the ‘thick of COVID,’ he criticized the show’s venue calling it a ‘hermetically sealed tent’ and stated that if he’d known, he would ‘not have come.’
Last week, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the Pineapple Express star told the host that the organizers had been ‘outwardly pissed off’ at him and that he ‘made them look bad.’
And on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Television Academy responded to the claim in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.
‘The Television Academy congratulates Mr. Rogen on his multiple Emmy wins this past September, and we look forward to seeing him in the audience at many ceremonies to come,’ the representative said.
Rogen, who presented the first award at the show in 2021, seemed taken aback while on stage, saying the guests were packed inside a ‘hermetically-sealed tent’ and that organizers ‘lied about it being outside.’
While the Emmys was technically considered as an ‘outdoor event,’ the ceremony took place inside an enclosed tent.
‘Good to be here at the Emmy Awards,’ Rogen — who won four Emmys at the 2025 ceremony last month for his work on The Studio — said.
‘Let me start by saying: there’s way too many of us in this little room. What are we doing? They said this was outdoors—it’s not! They lied to us.’
‘We’re in a hermetically-sealed tent right now. I would not have come to this,’ Rogen said.
‘Why is there a roof?’ Rogen continued. ‘It’s more important that we have three chandeliers than that we make sure we don’t kill Eugene Levy tonight. That is what has been decided.’
‘This is insane. I went from wiping my groceries to having Paul Bettany sneeze in my face .. so, that’s a big week. If anyone’s gonna sneeze in my face, Paul, I want it to be you.’
At the time, viewers also slammed the Emmys after hundreds of celebrities packed into the awards show without masks or social distancing, despite ongoing warnings in LA about the spread of COVID.
After Rogen’s spiel and before the Emmys cut for commercial, Emmys DJ Reggie Watts clarified the record and said they’re following all health and safety guidelines.
Then host Cedric the Entertainer said, ‘It actually feels amazing in here unlike what Seth (Rogen) was talking about. It feels good. We’re all vaxxed. We had to get vaxxed to come here.’
While talking to Kimmel on Tuesday, Rogen doubled down on his claims.
‘It was true! They lied,’ he said.
‘It said, “Outdoor event.” And I had all intention of doing the dumb schtick that they had written for me, and then I showed up, and then I was like, “We’re in a tent. I can’t ignore this. We’re gonna kill these old— Eugene Levy’s here! We’re gonna kill Eugene Levy? I don’t wanna do that.”
He then claimed that organizers were upset by his comments at the time.
‘They were outwardly pissed off at me afterwards, the producers, and I know they cycle through producers, but I’ve not been asked to return,’ Rogen claimed.
‘I’ve been blacklisted,’ he added.
Rogen said he understood why the organizers might have been upset with him.
‘I get it. I went very off-book and made them look bad. So, I get that.’
His AppleTV+ series The Studio was the top winner with an impressive 13 Primetime Emmys – including Best Comedy Series – at the 2025 Emmy Awards last month.
Rogen accepted the top prize on a big night for the program as he said: ‘It’s getting embarrassing. I really appreciate it. In all honesty, to everyone – I’m going to do my best attempt at sincerity here.’
‘If you’ve watched our show, he’s appreciated our show, voted for our show especially, thank you very much. I am legitimately embarrassed by how happy this makes me to be standing up here with all these people.’
Meanwhile, earlier in the night he earned the very first award as he took home the coveted Best Actor in a Comedy Series Award for his work in The Studio.
He triumphed over an impressive field including: Adam Brody: Nobody Wants This, Jason Segel: Shrinking, Martin Short: Only Murders in the Building, and Jeremy Allen White: The Bear.
Seth was taken aback by the honor as he said during his acceptance speech: ‘Thank you. Wow, this is amazing. I so could not wrap my head around this happening that I literally prepared nothing. I’ve never won anything in my life.
‘When I was a kid I bought a used bowling trophy at an estate sale, and my parents were like “Yeah, that’s a good idea, you should probably buy that.”‘
He went on to thank his wife, mom, cast and crew from his show, agent, and manager before concluding his speech.
Seth also won best directing in addition to sharing best writing honors with Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez.
In the series, Seth portrays Matt Remick, who is the newly-appointed head of a legacy Hollywood movie studio striving to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and business to live together.